Insulated non-halogenated heavy metal free vehicular cable

ABSTRACT

Described is an insulated non-halogenated, heavy metal free vehicular cable comprising an inner core of a copper based metal wire having a cross sectional area of at least about 0.1 mm 2 , and an outer insulation, covering the length of the inner core, comprised of a thermoplastic polyphenylene ether composition that has no halogen or heavy metal added thereto, the insulated cable capable of meeting the testing standard ISO 6722.

This application is a continuation of U.S. patent application Ser. No. 11/473,648 filed on Jun. 23, 2006. The disclosure of this earlier filed application is hereby incorporated by reference in its entirety.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The present invention is concerned with a vehicular cable that utilizes insulation that is non-halogenated and heavy metal free. In particular, the invention pertains to an automotive wire harness of a non-halogenated composition.

BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION

Environmental regulations dictate that the material selection in the vehicular industry needs to be halogen free and heavy metal free compositions especially for the vehicular cables. Typically, polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is utilized because of its combination of competitive raw materials costs and desirable properties. These properties include processibility, toughness, chemical resistance and ability to withstand temperatures typical for many applications in automotive environments.

Unfortunately, the chlorine content of PVC limits its disposal at the end of the life of the vehicle. Also there are concerns about effects on health and the environment by PVC by-products and PVC plasticizer. Accordingly, therefore, a replacement for PVC has long been sought with an intent to find competitive cost efficient replacements. In addition, performance must be taken into account including high temperature endurance, toughness processability and also reduction in weight.

It is therefore desirable to have a material that is a vehicular cable insulation, is cost effective and still achieves desirable characteristics such as lack of halogens and heavy metals, appropriate conductivity, temperature resistance, scrape abrasion resistance, resistance to heat aging, resistance to automotive fluids and resistance to flame and in particular to be capable of meeting the standard ISO (International Organization for Standardization) 6722 and offers all these properties with a reduction in weight.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION

Described is an insulated non-halogenated, heavy metal free vehicular cable comprising an inner core of a copper based metal wire having a cross sectional area of at least about 0.11 mm², and an outer insulation, covering the length of the inner core, comprised of a thermoplastic polyphenylene ether composition that has no halogen or heavy metal added thereto, the insulated cable capable of meeting the testing standard ISO 6722.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

Further objects and advantages of the invention will be apparent from the following description and appended claims, reference being made to the accompanying drawings forming a part of the specification, wherein like reference characters designate corresponding parts in several views.

FIG. 1 is a perspective view of the vehicular cable of the present invention;

FIG. 2 is a cross-section of FIG. 1 taken along lines 2-2;

FIG. 3 is a die used to manufacture an embodiment of the insulated vehicular cable of the present invention; and

FIG. 4 is a cross-section of FIG. 3 taken along lines 4-4.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF THE INVENTION

With increasing electronic content in automobiles there is an ever growing need for miniaturizing the size of the cables that provide resistance to physical abuse and provide resistance to flame and automotive fluids among other requirements to be met for the automotive industry such as ISO 6722. It has been found to be particularly desirable to utilize an insulated non-halogenated, heavy metal free vehicular cable containing a copper based metal wire that has a diameter of at least about 0.1 mm or more and an outer insulation covering the length of the inner core comprised of a thermoplastic polyphenylene ether composition which has no halogen or heavy metal added thereto.

DEFINITIONS

By “non-halogenated” is meant that the polymeric material that is utilized has no halogen material that is added to the composition, as a desirable component of the composition.

By “heavy metal free” is meant that no heavy metal such as mercury, hexavalent chrome, cadmium, lead and the like are added to the metal core, as a desirable component of the metal composition.

By “copper based metal” is meant that the metal wire is comprised of greater than 50% by weight of the metal being copper, or copper alloyed with other metal components as is well known in the industry yet maintaining suitable electrical conductivity. Well known copper based alloys may be used such as HPC-80EF, trademark Phelps Dodge.

By “polyphenylene ether” is meant a thermoplastic polymeric material which is commercially available and generally are polymers of monohydroxy aromatic materials. Other readily available materials are 2, 6-xylenol or a 2, 3, 6-trimethylphenyl and polymers thereof. Polyphenylene ether (PPE) is also known as polyphenylene oxide (PPO) and is described in the literature. See U.S. Pat. Nos. 3,306,874, 3,306,875; 3,257,357; and 3,257,358, which are herein incorporated by reference.

Frequently polyphenylene ether materials are a blend of other thermoplastic or cross-linked ethylenically unsaturated materials such as polyolefinic materials, styrene or styrene butadiene or polyacryamide and the like. These materials are commercially available such as Noryl, Luranyl, Ultranyl or Vestoblend, trademarks of GE. Some materials that may be utilized include Noryl WCV072, WCV072L-111, and the like of GE.

It has been found that the ultra thin cable and cable wall that is utilized in the present case even at a small cross section of 0.1 mm² give a very satisfactory result in abrasion cycling tests such as that called for in ISO-6722.

The cross sectional area of the copper wire can range from about 0.1 to about 3 square millimeters, such as 26 AWG to 12 AWG, alternatively 0.13 to 1.5 square millimeters.

The insulated cable of the present invention is prepared utilizing normal well known commercially available equipment where the desired polyphenylene ether polymer is fed to an extrusion machine where the molten viscous polymer is passed through a die, as shown in FIGS. 3-4, so that the insulating PPE is wrapped around the linear portion of the metal conductor wire. The processing temperatures that may be utilized can vary as is well known in the industry. However, it has been found desirable to heat the resin material obtained from the supplier as follows. The thermoplastic polyphenylene ether material is dried at about 180° F. for at least 2 hours and is then passed through the first stage of an extrusion machine. The feed temperature is approximately 115° F. The compression temperature and the metering temperature in the barrels of the extruder can vary. A compression temperature may be from about 475° F. to 490° F. The metering temperature is approximately 500° F. to 540° F. The cross head or the die temperature is approximately 540° F. to 560° F. After the wire is extruded with the insulated material thereon, it passes through a cooling water bath and mist which is maintained at room temperature and then is packed as a cable in a barrel for subsequent handling.

Turning now to a description of the drawings. FIG. 1 is the insulated vehicular cable 10 of the present invention having an insulated member 12 of PPE extruded or wrapped around the copper base metal core 14. An embodiment is shown in FIGS. 1 and 2 wherein the inner copper core is comprised of several wires 14 A-G with a central wire 14 A. The central wire 14A is surrounded by the other wires 14 B-G. There can be 7, 19 or 37 strands in metal core 14, in some instances they are compressed and in the other they are bunched.

During the extrusion process of the insulated vehicular cable 10, the copper based core is fed through the middle of die 20 entering the back end 22 of the die and exiting from the die at 24. The die has a central portion 26 through which the copper based wire 14 passes. The hot viscous PPE will be passed into the space 28 at the entrance end 22 of the die 20 and proceeds to envelop the copper wire. The die begins to narrow at 30 as PPE is extruded with the copper based wire passing from 30 through exit 24 of the die. At the exit 24 of the die, the insulated vehicular cable 10 of the present invention is obtained. The cooling process as described above and the packaging of the cable follows thereafter.

The diameter of the insulated vehicular cable 10 of the present invention can vary substantially. A cable diameter that has been found useful is between 0.85 and 0.92 mm in case of 0.13 mm² cable. Other dimensions of an insulated vehicular cable would be one that has approximately 0.13 square millimeters of wire as its cross sectional area but which is used to form the embodiment shown in FIG. 1 namely a central wire with six surrounding wires. In that case, the conductor diameter may be approximately 0.465 millimeters with a cable diameter 10 of approximately 0.88 millimeters with the minimum insulated wall thickness of 0.198 millimeters.

As indicated above a wide variety of commercially available extruding equipment may be utilized such as an extruder identified as BMD60-24D or a Nokia Maillefer, and the like.

The die utilized in the present invention may be manufactured from a wide variety of commercially available materials such as D2 hardened tool steel.

Following the procedures outlined in ISO-6722, scrape abrasion resistance using 7(N) load and 0.45 millimeter needle was used on three sets of cables, the first being compressed halogen free cable ISO ultra thin wall cable referred as CHFUS, the second ISO thin wall cable referred as HFSS and the third ISO thick wall cable referred as HF. The test results are identified in tables 1 and 2 below.

TABLE 1 CHFUS 0.13* 0.22* 0.35* 0.50* 0.75* 1.00* 1.25* Normal Force(N) 4.0 4.0 5.0 5.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 Minimum cycles required at the 100 100 100 150 150 180 180 normal force Result 166 550 338 376 536 526 1315 7N Load 151 338 244 1150 836 960 2181 125 379 223 458 1078 1171 610 174 397 287 560 722 984 2673 Minimum cycles attained by the 125 338 223 376 536 526 610 cable at 7 Newton load Pass/Fail ∘ ∘ ∘ ∘ ∘ ∘ ∘ *Wire Size (square mm)

TABLE 2 HFSS HF 0.35* 0.50* 0.75* 1.00* 1.25* 2.00* 3.00* Normal Force(N) 5.0 5.0 6.0 6.0 6.0 7.0 7.0 Minimum cycles required 100 150 150 180 180 750 750 at the normal force Result 443 4067 7193 6043 10434 12586 *>5000 7N Load 2396 893 9636 3896 5158 10835 830 4271 4512 7771 3559 11203 1031 2586 6198 8776 16333 12308 Minimum cycles attained by the 443 893 4512 3896 3559 10835 *>5000 cable at 7 Newton load Pass/Fail ∘ ∘ ∘ ∘ ∘ ∘ ∘ *Wire Size (square mm)

Following the procedures outlined in ISO-6722 a number of tests were so performed where the cross sectional area of the copper wire varied as well as the diameter of insulated polyphyenelyene ether varied as is shown in tables 3-4.

TABLE 3 Cable Type and Size CHFUS Size Test Item Unit Wire Thickness Area (square mm) 0.13 0.22 0.35 0.50 0.75 1.00 1.25 1.50 ISO6722 Certi- Dimensions Thickness of (mm) 0.179 0.274 0.190 0.211 0.194 0.196 0.210 0.223 fication Ins. (min) Cable Outer (mm) 0.872 1.027 1.127 1.279 1.391 1.590 1.794 1.849 Dia. Electrical Resistance (mΩ/m) Sec 6.1 Must be smaller than requirement 157.100 78.600 49.600 34.600 24.300 17.200 14.100 12.000 (Measured result) See Table 4 (mΩ/m) Requirement 169.900 84.400 54.400 37.100 24.700 18.500 14.900 12.700 Ins. Sec. 6.2 Breakdown shall not occur Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Resistance in water Spark test Sec. 6.3 No breakdown shall occur when the earthed cable Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass is drawn through the test electrode Mechanical Pressure test Sec. 7.1 Breakdown shall not occur during the withstand Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass at high temp. voltage test Low-temp Winding Sec. 8.1 After winding, no conductor shall be visible. Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass under low During the withstand voltage test, temp breakdown shall not occur. Abrasion Scrape (N) Sec. 9.3 Load requirement 4 4 5 5 6 6 6 6 (times) Scrape requirement 100 100 100 150 150 180 180 200 (times) Min. scrape result 1309 3052 951 1636 441 844 883 1058 Heat aging Short high Sec. 10.1 After winding, no conductor shall be visible. Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass temp During the withstand voltage test, breakdown shall not occur. Long high Sec. 10.2 After winding, no conductor shall be visible. Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass temp 85 During the withstand voltage test, deg C. breakdown shall not occur. Shrinkage by (mm) Sec. 10.4 The maximum shrinkage shall not exceed Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass high temp 2 mm at either end Resistance Gasoline Sec. 11.1 The maximum outside cable diameter change Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass to chemical (%) shall meet the requirement shown in Table 13. After winding, 5.15 5.40 0.09 2.83 −6.39 0.06 0.00 0.32 Diesel no conductor shall be visible. During the withstand Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass pass Pass Pass (%) voltage test, breakdown shall not occur. 4.56 4.72 8.63 −0.58 −0.40 6.20 3.55 1.88 Engine Oil Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass (%) 5.75 2.44 2.70 −6.91 −5.66 −4.84 0.83 0.70 Flame Flamability (Sec) Sec. 12 Any combustion flame of insulating material shall 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 0.0 4.0 4.0 at 45 degree extinguish within 70 s, and a minimum of 50 mm of angle insulation at the top of the test sample shall remain unburned If Electrical Insulation Ohm Sec. 6.4 Greater than 10⁹ Ohm mm Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass required volume mm 1.6E+15 1.0E+16 1.70E+16 2.50E+21 8.60E+17 3.50E+21 7.30E+17 9.10E+19 resistivity Mechanical Strip force (N) Sec. 7.2 Greater than specified by customer 28.8 Pass 31.6 Pass 41 Pass 69.7 Pass 52.5 Pass 75.7 Pass 70.1 Pass 63.8 Pass Requirement (Min) 2 2 5 5 5 5 5 5 Low-temp Impact Sec. 8.2 After impact, no conductor shall be visible, Not Not Not Not Not Not Not Not During the withstand voltage test, breakdown shall not required required required required required required required required occur. Heat aging Thermal Sec. 10.3 After winding, no conductor shall be visible. Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass overload During the withstand voltage, breakdown shall not occur Resistance Ethanol Sec. 11.1 The maximum outside cable diameter change Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass to chemical (%) shall meet the requirement shown in Table 13. After 4.01 4.42 2.70 −6.98 −6.06 −5.26 1.33 1.61 Power winding. no conductor shall be visible. During the withstand Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass steering (%) voltage test, breakdown shall not occur. 4.00 6.39 3.68 5.76 −4.73 −3.48 1.33 3.71 fluid Automatic Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass transmission (%) 4.07 5.52 4.31 6.05 −2.46 −3.96 2.11 1.51 fluid Engine Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass coolant (%) 3.09 0.29 0.99 1.65 −0.20 0.06 0.44 −0.32 Battery Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass (%) −0.11 1.48 1.08 2.12 −1.00 0.24 0.00 −0.32 Ozone Sec. 11.3 The visual examination of the insulation shall not Pass reveal any cra

Hot water (Ω · Sec. 11.4 The insulation volume resistivity shall not be less Pass mm) than 10⁹ Ohm mm. A visual examination of the insulation Temp. and Sec. 11.5 After winding, no conductor shall be visible. Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass humidity During the withstand voltage test, breakdown shall not cycling occur

indicates data missing or illegible when filed

TABLE 4 Cable Type and Size PPO HFSS HF Size Size Test Item Unit Wire Thickness Area (square mm) 0.35 0.50 0.75 1.00 1.25 2.00 3.00 ISO6722 Certi- Dimensions Thickness (mm) 0.258 0.231 0.252 0.322 0.320 0.348 0.653 fication of Ins. (min) Cable (mm) 1.289 1.481 1.773 1.943 2.088 2.551 3.598 Outer Dia. Electrical Resistance (mΩ/m) Sec 6.1 Must be smaller than requirement 46.200 33.100 23.200 16.800 13.900 8.840 5.76 (Measured result) See Table 4 (mΩ/m) Requirement 54.400 37.100 24.700 18.500 14.900 9.420 6.150 Ins. Sec. 6.2 Breakdown shall not occur Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Resistance in water Spark test Sec. 6.3 No breakdown shall occur when the earthed cable Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass is drawn through the test electrode Mechanical Pressure Sec. 7.1 Breakdown shall not occur during the withstand voltage test Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass test at high temp. Low-temp Winding Sec. 8.1 After winding, no conductor shall be visible. Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass under During the withstand voltage test, low temp breakdown shall not occur. Abrasion Scrape (N) Sec. 9.3 Load requirement 5 5 6 6 6 7 7 (times) Scrape requirement 100 150 150 180 180 750 750 (times) Min. scrape result 1688 2141 >5000 >5000 >5000 10835 >5000 Heat aging Short Sec. 10.1 After winding, no conductor shall be visible. Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass high temp During the withstand voltage test, breakdown shall not occur. Long high Sec. 10.2 After winding, no conductor shall be visible. Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass temp 85 During the withstand voltage test, deg C. breakdown shall not occur. Shrinkage (mm) Sec. 10.4 The maximum shrinkage shall not exceed Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass by high temp 2 mm at either end Resistance Gasoline Sec. 11.1 The maximum outside cable diameter change shall Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass to chemical (%) meet the requirement shown in Table 13. After winding, −4.79 −4.54 −3.57 2.07 2.23 6.77 13.4 no conductor shall be visible. During the withstand voltage test, Diesel breakdown shall not occur. Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass (%) −3.50 −2.71 −1.65 3.16 −2.00 2.20 1.63 Engine Oil Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass (%) −6.36 −5.74 1.17 2.19 −3.91 0.94 0.14 Flame Flamability (Sec) Sec. 12 Any combustion flame of insulating material shall 0.0 0.0 4.0 5.0 4.0 8.0 14 at 45 degree extinguish within 70 s and a minimum of 50 mm of insulation angle at the top of the test sample shall remain unburned If Electrical Insulation Ohm mm Sec. 6.4 Greater than 10⁹ Ohm mm Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass required volume 2.90E+21 7.70E+17 8.30E+16 2.80E+16 3.20E+16 9.70E+16 3.40E+21 resistivity Mechanical Strip force (N) Sec. 7.2 Greater than specified by customer 63 Pass 115.35 69.4 Pass 8.0 Pass 112 Pass 113.3 Pass 230 Requirement (Min) 5 5 5 5 5 10 15 Low-temp Impact Sec. 8.2 After impact, no conductor shall be visible. Not Not Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass During the withstand voltage test, breakdown shall not occur. required required Heat aging Thermal Sec. 10.3 After winding, no conductor shall be visible. Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass overload During the withstand voltage, breakdown shall not occur Resistance Ethanol Sec. 11.1 The maximum outside cable diameter change Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass to chemical shall meet the requirement shown in Table 13. After winding, (%) no conductor shall be visible. During the withstand voltage test. 5.93 −5.36 1.17 5.97 −3.82 1.45 1.3 Power breakdown shall not occur. Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass steering fluid (%) −5.36 −3.72 −3.52 6.99 −2.64 2.08 0.36 Automatic Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass transmission fluid (%) −5.65 −4.61 −3.09 6.99 −2.55 1.92 0.58 Engine Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass coolant (%) −7.22 0.13 −5.54 −1.17 0.00 0.74 0.64 Battery Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass (%) 0.78 −0.19 −0.32 5.00 0.38 −0.04 0 Ozone Sec. 11.3 The visual examination of the insulation shall not reveal any Pass cracks Hot water (Ω · mm) Sec. 11.4 The insulation volume resistivity shall not be less Pass than 10⁹ Ohm mm. A visual examination of the insulation Temp. and Sec. 11.5 After winding, no conductor shall be visible. Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass Pass humidity During the withstand voltage test, breakdown shall not occur cycling

While the forms of the invention herein disclosed constitute presently preferred embodiments, many others are possible. It is not intended herein to mention all of the possible equivalent forms or ramifications of the invention. It is understood that the terms used herein are merely descriptive rather than limiting and that various changes may be made without departing from the spirit or the scope of the invention. 

1. An insulated non-halogenated, heavy metal free vehicular cable comprising: an inner core of a copper based metal wire having a cross sectional area of 0.1 mm² to 0.13 mm²; an outer insulation, covering the length of the inner core, comprised of a thermoplastic polyphenylene ether composition that has no halogen or heavy metal added thereto, wherein the polyphenylene ether comprises a polymer formed from a ethylenically unsaturated material, the insulation having improved abrasion resistance; and wherein the insulated cable is constructed and arranged to withstand flame at a 45 degree angle such that any combustion flame of the outer insulation extinguishes within 70 seconds and a minimum of 50 mm of insulation at the top of the insulated cable remains unburned, and to have a scrape abrasion resistance of greater that 100 cycles using a 7 N load and a 0.45 millimeter needle.
 2. The insulated cable of claim 1 in the form of an automobile wire harness.
 3. The insulated cable of claim 1 wherein the inner core of the copper based metal wire has a cross sectional area of 0.13 mm².
 4. The insulated cable of claim 1 wherein the ethylenically unsaturated material comprises an olefinically unsaturated material.
 5. The insulated cable of claim 1 wherein the ethylenically unsaturated material comprises a styrene butadiene material.
 6. An insulated vehicle cable comprising: a copper based metal core that has a cross sectional area of about 0.13 mm²; an insulation layer that covers the copper based metal core, the insulation layer comprising a thermoplastic polyphenylene ether material that is free of halogens and heavy metals; and wherein the copper based metal core and the insulation layer provide the insulated vehicle cable with a thickness from about 0.85 mm to about 0.92 mm.
 7. The insulated vehicle cable of claim 6 wherein the insulation layer has a thickness of about 0.179 mm.
 8. The insulated vehicle cable of claim 6 wherein the insulation layer has a thickness of about 0.198 mm
 9. The insulated vehicle cable of claim 6 wherein the vehicle cable can withstand flame at a 45 degree angle such that any combustion flame of the outer insulation extinguishes within 70 seconds and a minimum of 50 mm of insulation at the top of the insulated cable remains unburned, and has a scrape abrasion resistance of greater than 100 cycles using a 7N load and a 0.45 millimeter needle.
 10. The insulated vehicle cable of claim 6 wherein the copper based metal core comprises a plurality of copper wires.
 11. The insulated vehicle cable of claim 6 wherein the polyphenylene ether material is a polymer of monohydroxy aromatic compounds.
 12. The insulated vehicle cable of claim 11 wherein the monohydroxy aromatic compounds comprise 2,6-xylenol.
 13. The insulated vehicle cable of claim 11 wherein the monohydroxy aromatic compounds comprise 2, 3, 6-trimethylphenyl
 14. The insulated vehicle cable of claim 6 wherein the polyphenylene ether material comprises a polymer formed from an ethylenically unsaturated material.
 15. The insulated vehicle cable of claim 14 wherein the polymer formed from an ethylenically unsaturated material comprises a blend of one or more of a polyolefin, styrene, styrene butadiene, and a polyacryamide.
 16. A method of forming an insulated vehicle cable, the method comprising: providing an extruder; feeding a molten polyphenylene ether polymer material into the extruder; passing a copper based core comprised of one or more copper wires and having a cross sectional area of about 0.13 mm² to about 3 mm² through the extruder such that a layer of the molten polyphenylene ether polymer material coats the copper based core along its length; and cooling the molten polyphenylene ether polymer material to form an insulation layer around the copper based core that is about 0.179 mm to about 0.653 mm thick.
 17. The method of claim 16 wherein cooling the molten polyphenylene ether polymer material comprises passing the copper based core with a layer of molten polyphenylene ether polymer material through a cooling water bath and mist at room temperature. 